About us
THE STORY OF re-origin
At age 25, Ben Ahrens, a semi-professional surfer, became bedridden for over 3 years with Chronic Neurological Lyme Disease. Up until that time, he’d dedicated himself to living and promoting a healthy, active lifestyle as a trainer and an athlete. But despite his best efforts and conventional medical treatment, Ben found himself truly stuck – unable to get better or make a full recovery. Then he came across neuroplasticity.
While attending an online class in neuroanatomy via UC Berkeley to better understand his own brain and condition, Ben was exposed to the extraordinary results that applied neuroscience or “neuroplasticity training” had demonstrated with chronic pain, physical rehab, and even immune related conditions. It was at this point that a lightbulb went off in Ben’s head where he realized the brain as the “chief orchestrator” of all mental, physical, and emotional processes. Rather than seeking out further doctors to address his mysterious symptoms, Ben set out to heal himself, and equipped himself with an entirely new approach.
Our Mission
The Brain TrustTM
re-origin's Science Advisory Board
Dr. Kenneth Gorfinkle, Ph.D, is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medical Psychology since 1992 at New York Presbyterian Hospital and Children’s Hospital. He is also on staff at the Behavioral Medicine Program, Columbia University, where he participates in research, consulting and teaching in areas of diabetes care, pain management, cardiovascular health, and rehabilitation after craniofacial surgery. Dr. Gorfinkle also served as consulting Psychologist for the Babies and Children’s Hospital Pediatric Oncology Service from 1992 until 2001. After completing his coursework at the Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research, Dr. Kenneth Gorfinkle joined the Behavioral Medicine research group at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. At Memorial, his research on controlling distress in children undergoing cancer treatment culminated in his doctoral dissertation on the role of parenting style in children coping with painful medical procedures. Dr. Gorfinkle is currently the consulting psychologist for the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center at NY Presbyterian Hospital. He also lectures and supervises Child/Adolescent Psychiatry residents at Children’s Hospital in the Consultation/Liaison Service. He is the author of Soothing Your Child’s Pain: From Teething to Tummy Aches to Acute Illnesses and Injuries-How to Understand the Causes and Ease the Hurt, Contemporary Books, 1998. He has published in numerous books and peer-reviewed journals. He is a member of the New York State Psychological Association and the American Psychological Association.
Dr. Kelly Kent, PhD is a neuroscientist that connects her passion for the brain with everything she touches, including as a school board member, corporate creativity consultant, business-owner, speaker, runner, parent, wife, educator, volunteer, community activist, mentor and friend. For the past five years since she completed her PhD in the molecular mechanisms of stroke recovery, Kelly has been taking her experience and expertise garnered at higher educational institutions and applying them to the real world around her. While on the one hand, Kelly was pursuing her post-graduate work in autism at the University of Southern California, she was also simultaneously teaching and mentoring graduate and undergraduate students. Kelly taught neurobiology to psychotherapy graduate students at Antioch University in Culver City as well as psychology undergraduate students at Moorpark College in Simi Valley. The application of neuroscience to everyday life became especially literal when Kelly co-founded adaptEd Consultants along with Anne-Marie Cziko, a company that uses neuroscience to provide tools to drive individual and organizational growth. All the while, Kelly was becoming more and more active in the Culver City, CA community where she is raising her children. As evidence has accumulated about the value that learning a language has for any developing brain, Kelly took on the founding and overseeing of an immersive Spanish instruction program at her neighborhood school. It wasn’t long after this that she was asked to run for school board. In November of 2015, Kelly Kent was the top vote-geer elected to the Culver City Unified School District Governing Board and since joining the board has brought her expertise in education and organizational culture to enhance the outcomes of all students.